


Day Twelve: “Our hearts were drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see.” - George William Russell

by sparrowhaven



Series: Final Fantasy 14 Writing Challenge March 2021 [12]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: 31 Days Writing Challenge, Amaurot (Final Fantasy XIV), First Meetings, Gen, Spoilers for aspects of Shadowbringers, Twin Azem AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 21:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30011334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrowhaven/pseuds/sparrowhaven
Summary: Everything has a beginning. This is the beginning of a friendship so powerful that the echoes of it can still be felt thousands of years later.
Relationships: Azem & Emet-Selch & Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV), Azem & Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV), Emet-Selch & Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV)
Series: Final Fantasy 14 Writing Challenge March 2021 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190222
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Day Twelve: “Our hearts were drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see.” - George William Russell

**Author's Note:**

> I seriously could _not_ come up with something taking place in another part of the msq for this quote so here's this instead.

“Hello. What’re you doing?”

Hades looked up from the text he was studying. In front of him was a boy about his age, in much the same dark robe and white mask as his own. The only real difference between the both of them was the wide smile on the other boy’s face.

He took an instant dislike to him. Didn’t he see that Hades was _busy_? “What’s it look like I’m doing?” He snapped.

Instead of running off like any of the other, more sensible, children that Hades had encountered, the boy _laughed_. “I know it _looks_ like you’re studying, but what are you _really_ doing?” He tilted his head while folding his arms. “If you really wanted to be alone, you would have gone indoors. Instead you’re reading out here where there are interruptions aplenty. Do you or do you not want to be alone?”

Of all the people he had to encounter, _this_ boy had to be more observant than most. Hades could feel himself curling up, trying to defend himself. That the only “attack” aimed at him was nothing more than a direct question was hardly the point. “I don’t see why I need to tell you. I don’t even know your name.”

“Oh!” The boy took a step back in shock. He then moved his arms in an odd manner as he kept talking quickly. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think about that before I started talking!” When he was finished, he took a small bow towards Hades. “I’m Hythlodaeus. What’s your name?”

Silence stretched between the two. Hades fully intended to keep his name to himself. What would be the point of giving it away to someone who had so rudely interrupted his studying, _then_ had the audacity to correctly identify the disparity of his actions? 

Except… _did_ he want to be alone? 

The answer came to him _after_ he had already opened his mouth to speak. “I’m Hades.”

“Nice to meet you!” Hythlodaeus declared as he came and settled himself on the bench that Hades had been sitting on. He hadn’t even been invited to do so. “Now what was it you were studying? Surely nothing assigned by the teachers! I already finished all of mine.”

Hades snorted. “I’m trying to be ahead in our lessons.”

“Why’s that?”

“So that I can be excused to _sleep_ through the more boring parts. The teachers are necessary, but their lessons can be quite dull.”

Hythlodaeus laughed. This time the sound wasn’t nearly so irritating. Perhaps because it wasn’t directed _at_ him. “Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?”

A smirk played at Hades’ lips. “I suspect you might not have the capacity for that sort of thinking.”

“Oh wow, you really like to talk in insults.”

“That’s my greatest talent, I’ll have you know.”

The idea of friendship wasn’t foreign to Hades, but it still took him by surprise when he found himself starting to think of Hythlodaeus as a friend some months later. When told, the boy had rolled his head in a dramatic fashion and declared, “It’s about time you realized what was happening! I had good reasons to bother you, I told you!”

For once Hades had found it hard to express what he was feeling. This not-bored, not-annoyed emotion was fairly warm and comforting and he cared not to examine it further lest it went away. So he instead changed the subject and the two continued on that way.

Some years after that first meeting and subsequent friendship making, Hades once again found himself accosted by other people out of the blue. This time, he had been taking a stroll through one of the many recreational parks of Amaurot when first one, then another body ran into his own. All three tumbled onto the ground in a heap of limbs and misshapen cloth. 

Hades was the first to recover, his cowl having fallen off his head entirely. After feeling his mask for potential cracks (there were none), he turned his ire towards the culprits. They were somewhat younger than he was, and had similar enough behaviors as they recovered that he surmised they were siblings before he’d even gotten a good look at whatever features could be seen. The still dizzy one sat back on their heels and spoke first. The voice was lower pitched, though soft. “S-sorry. Should’ve looked where we were going.”

The other one just glared back at him. A fine feat considering the mask, while askew, was still affixed to this sibling’s face. Long unruly hair, set free from the confines of the cowl, stuck out in chaotic directions. “It’s not _our_ fault that he decided to be in the way! We’ve been here longer than he has!” This one’s voice was higher pitched and harsh. 

“Of course you’ve been here for longer,” Hades retorted. “Today was my literal first visit here.” 

Both figures stared back at him. He would have thought they had been literally frozen except that both of them were quietly putting themselves back together at the same time. Realizing his cowl was still down, Hades flipped it back over his hair. The disapproving frown never left his face, though. 

“W-well.” The higher pitched one stuttered, apparently at a loss for words. “That’s no excuse. Obviously.”

Getting up and brushing himself down, Hades gave a derisive snort. “I’d take you to have a heated debate on that, but I’m afraid I have better things to do with my time.” When they continued to insist on looking at him, he barked a harsh, “What?”

“You’re so _prickly_.” The lower pitched one had recovered enough to stand and pull their sibling up with them. “No one else in the city is prickly.” 

With another, more rude snort, he folded his arms and tilted his head. “You haven’t met nearly enough people, then.”

“We’ve met tons of people here!” The lower pitched one protested. “Most of them back down and say that they were in the wrong!”

“…You two bodily run into people on _purpose_?” 

“Yes, but the why is none of your concern,” The higher pitched one waved a hand as if to dismiss the idea of him asking the very valid and reasonable follow up question. “You’re strange and I like it. I’m Artemis, and that’s my twin brother Apollo.” She–now that he was more certain of her gender–raised her hand up as if she hadn’t just run into Hades a moment ago.

“Hello.” The now identified Apollo raised his hand up in a similar greeting. 

“Hello.” Hades replied acidly. “And goodbye.” He turned and stomped off. Twin pairs of footsteps followed him. He didn’t bother turning around to shout at them. “That wasn’t an invitation to follow me!”

“You also didn’t tell us to go away, so I call that an invitation by proxy.” Artemis called from just behind and to his right.

“And who’s to say we weren’t already going in this direction?” Apollo mused from behind and to his left. “We _did_ run into you, you know.”

Just as Hades had resolved himself to taking a winding path to lose the twins, Hythlodaeus so happened to arrive. It was as if fate had conspired to have the three most annoying individuals discover and delight in each other and in irritating him.

It was also as if fate knew that he would come to enjoy the wonderfully chaotic ways of the three of them enough to call them friends–nay, family. No day was ever dull when he had at least one of them vying for his attention at nearly all times. Even during the most stressful of times, the presence of Apollo, Artemis or Hythlodaeus often made a bad day more bearable. Those were the happiest moments of his life.

If only forever could have lasted.


End file.
